Bottle-cap.



W. H. INMAN.

BOTTLE GAP.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 5, 1911.

LEUKfiQQ, Patented Aug". 18, 1914.

Inventor;

I k Attorneys IINITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IVILLIAM H. INMAN, OF KEOKUK, IOWA.

BOTTLE-CAP.

Application filed September 5, 1911. Serial No. 647,586.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WILLIAM H. INMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Keokuk, in the county of Lee and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Bottle-Cap, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to bottle caps.

The object of the invention, is in a ready, novel and practical manner, so to construct the cap as to permit of its easy removal from a bottle without the employment of an implement of any kind for the purpose, and further to insure its retention in position against any possibility of accidental detachment as from excessive gas pressure, or from blows or impacts due to handling or shipping.

\Vith the above and other objects in View.

as will appear as the nature of the inven tion is better understood, the same consists in the novel construction and combination of parts of a bottle cap, as will be hereinafter fully described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, and of which like characters of reference indicate corresponding parts: Figure 1 is a view in perspective of the band of the cap. Fig. 2 is a similar View of the completed cap. Figs. 3 and 4 are similar views of modified forms of the cap shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

In Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawing, there is exhibited a crown cap comprising a crimped band or flange 1, one edge of which is inturned to proi'idc an annular'flange The crimps are of the character usually employed in this type of closure, but may be of other designs if found of advantage. Projecting from the crimped edge are two tongues 3, which are oppositely alined and are preferably weakened at their point of juncture with the edge by a crease 4 which renders the tongues frangible so that they may easily be broken from the hand for the purpose that will presently appear.

As stated, it is one of the objects of the invention to dispense with the employment of an implement of any character in removing the cap from the bottle, thus to eliminate an objectionable feature present in the so-called crown seal. This result is secured in several ways with the present invention, that shown in Figs. 1 and 2 being accomplished by providing the hand with two slots 5 thatdiyide the shoulder 6 and .Specification of Letters Patent.

.Patented Aug. 18, 1914.

extend to or slightly beyond the crimped edge at the longitudinal central line of the tongues. Preferably, to insure'certain fracture of the flange 2, the slot will extend slightly within the tongues;- as at 7, so that when the tongues are broken from the hand, there will be no metal left at the edge ends of the slots to hold the band together at these points. The tongues may be of a length sufficiently greater than the width of the band to permit of their being bent over upon theflange 2 as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, or merely only equal to the width of the band, as shown in Fig. 3, these two alternative arrangements being equally adapted to the modified forms shown in the other figures.

To close the opening formed by the flange 2, there is a cap disk 8 employed, which is of a diameter to fit snugly within the band and rest against the flange. This disk may be held in place in any preferred manner, preferably by instruck tongues 9 which serve to clamp the disk against the flange as usual, and as shown only in Fig. 2, the cap includes a lining L of some waterproof material, and a cork C that constitutes the closure. By extending the free end of the tongue inwardly onto the top of the cap, it will be seen that it thus constitutes a backing or reinforce for the cap so as to form an additional protection against the cap bending along the line of the slot.

In Figs. 3 and 4 the top 10 of the cap is solid, and the tongues 9 are dispensed with as unnecessary. In each of these figures, the top is shown as provided with a transverse bending crease 11 by which arrangement the cap may readily be bent when it is to be removed from the bottle, after having detached the tongues, or a single tongue as shown in Fig. 5.

It is to be understood that in the procedure of bending the tongues to position to cover the slot, or slots in the band, that the tongue is weakened, so that its breakage from the cap is easily accomplished while the slot is concealed and the cap is reinforced by the tongue when bent up.

The prevailing feature of the several forms of crown caps disclosed resides in the fact that the flange of the crown cap is provided with a reflexed tongue bent from its edge and with a slit underneath the tongue. the terminals of the slit extending into the bend of the tongue and into the top of the cap, and'the free end of the tongue being bent singularly over the top of the cap.

What is claimed is A crown cap, the flange of which has 3 5 reflexed tongue bent from its edge u on the flange and the adjoining portion of t e body of the cap to provide a double ply of metal at such point, the ortion of said cap overlaid by the tongue eing slotted transversely 10 adjacent the tongue and such slot extending from a point beyond the junction of the flange and body into the body of the tongue, whereby the slot is concealed'by the tongue and the body and flange are reinforced by the tongue. I

In testimony that I the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aifixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM H. INMAN.

Witnesses J. M. WRIGHT, JAS. S. Bmmows. 

